Find a penny and pick it
up and all the day you’ll have good luck. I heard this chant
many times as a child in the southern portion of the United States but it is
not restricted to the American South.
The
“lucky Penny” superstition has been known for thousands of years. Ancient
peoples, just like many moderns, often believed in the power inherent in coins.
Finding a coin was considered to be a sign of good luck, or of coming
prosperity, because metals were considered to represent wealth and protection.
Making
a wish after throwing a coin into a fountain may have originated as giving a
valuable offering to water deities.
“A
penny for your thoughts” carries the idea that your thoughts are valuable
because the coin has value.
After
a coin flip, a coin landing with its head-side up (obverse) is considered to be
a positive sign. A coin with the tails-side up (reverse) is considered to be
negative. Some people will not pick up a coin from the street if the coin is in
the tails up position. In American football, the referee determines first
possession of the ball by the use of a coin flip.
This may seem like a trivial and harmless holdover of an ancient superstition. Most people would view it in this way and, for the most part, it is. The children gleefully throwing coins into the fountain outside a restaurant and making a wish are totally innocent. Most adults have no idea of the origins of the superstition and have not given it a single thought, and probably never will. In its origins it is a demonstration of the use of Magick.
Magick,
as opposed to harmless stage magic (where you do not actually see what you
think you see) is an ancient concept. The actual modern word, Magick,
seems to have been originated by Aleister Crowley, an utterly evil and awful
man who described himself as The Great Beast. His most famous quotation is “Do
what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.”
Magick
is the intentional attempt to control reality by performing certain actions or
saying certain words. It is an attempt to impose one’s will on the universe. It
is an assertion of self as the master. If you gave them a coin, the water
deities were obligated to grant you a wish. If you rubbed the lamp, the genie
was your slave. If you said the correct words in the correct sequence, a demon
could be forced to obey you.
Simony
is the practice of buying or selling objects held to be religiously sacred. It
does not include the selling of modern Christian merchandise which, of itself,
is not inherently holy or sacred. Simony
would be the selling, for personal profit, of materials or items or powers used
in the official functions of the church. The word originates from Acts
8:18-24, where a magician, Simon Magus, offered money to Peter in an attempt to
purchase the power to perform miracles. Peter angrily rejected Simon’s offer of
money.
The Bible
clearly says that we are to avoid the intentional use of magic and the occult. Deuteronomy
18:10-11, 18:2; Exodus 22:18; Leviticus 19:31, 20:6,27; Isaiah
19:1-4; Ezekiel 13:20-21; 2 Kings 21:6; Revelation 21:8.
………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Your
innocent child can probably still enjoy throwing a few coins into a fountain.
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